Help - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 and Genrad Strobotac

External Since: Jan 30, 2007 Posts: 3

Hello,

Maybe someone can help, I'm trying to trigger a Stobotac with a
Panasonic Lumix using a Wein HSHSB hot shoe adapter. Funny thing is,
I've taken it to 2 different camera shops and they manage to get the
thing to work somewhat but back at the office, no luck.

The Wein has a test button which will trigger the strobe but the
shutter release on the camera will not (when I'm not in a camera
shop). The strobe seems hair-triggered enough that just picking up the
camera in the camera shop fires it a couple times (probably static
electricity) but only, it seems, when everything is sitting on a glass
counter top.

Everything is brand new, stobe works great when set to internal
trigger, cable is OK because test button fires the stobe (when set to
external control) every time. Panasonic customer support was no help,
except to say it was 6 volt. Wein said something about the reduced
voltage feature of the hot shoe adapter may be the problem. I don't
need voltage, the strobotac is 110 VAC, shorting the terminals of the
cable fires the strobe, any ideas?

Thanks for reading
David

External Since: Jan 30, 2007 Posts: 3

On Jan 30, 3:09 pm, "Cgiorgio" <m... RemoveThis @nowhere.org> wrote:
> <wind_roc... RemoveThis @yahoo.com> schrieb im Newsbeitragnews:1170186211.830936.214280@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > Hello,
>
> > Maybe someone can help, I'm trying to trigger a Stobotac with a
> > Panasonic Lumix using a Wein HSHSB hot shoe adapter. Funny thing is,
> > I've taken it to 2 different camera shops and they manage to get the
> > thing to work somewhat but back at the office, no luck.
>
> > The Wein has a test button which will trigger the strobe but the
> > shutter release on the camera will not (when I'm not in a camera
> > shop). The strobe seems hair-triggered enough that just picking up the
> > camera in the camera shop fires it a couple times (probably static
> > electricity) but only, it seems, when everything is sitting on a glass
> > counter top.
>
> > Everything is brand new, stobe works great when set to internal
> > trigger, cable is OK because test button fires the stobe (when set to
> > external control) every time. Panasonic customer support was no help,
> > except to say it was 6 volt. Wein said something about the reduced
> > voltage feature of the hot shoe adapter may be the problem. I don't
> > need voltage, the strobotac is 110 VAC, shorting the terminals of the
> > cable fires the strobe, any ideas?
>
> > Thanks for reading
> > David
>
> I assume that you want to catch a moving part several times on a single
> image using a long exposure time. The Strobotac can either be triggered by
> impulses (bypassing the internal generator) or by contact closure between
> the remote trigger input and ground. Then it will start firing a series of
> flashes at the preset rate as long as the contact stays closed. The FZ 50
> provides a (semiconductor emulated) contact closure, but only for a very
> short time after the shutter has opened. This is an impulse that is just
> long enough to trigger a conventional flash unit. What you need is a device
> that is triggered by this "closure" and holding the "contact" closed until
> it is manually reset or times out after the shutter is closed. I could not
> find out what kind of voltage drop the Strobotac still sees as a "closed
> contact", but it will probably be compatible with standard TTL or CMOS logic
> levels. There are several possible solutions, either use a 555 type timer
> that is triggered by the hot shoe "contact closure", in a one - shot circuit
> dimensioned for a time slightly longer than the maximum exposure time. The
> 555 output would then be connected to the trigger input of the Strobotac or
> you could use a flip-flop with manual reset. If case the Strobotac needs a
> really low input voltage, a Mosfet used as the output component might do the
> trick. Unfortunately you will not be able to find such a circuit ready made
> for your application, you will have to find somebody knowledgeable in
> electronics who is willing to use a soldering iron.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

(to Justin) Yes we tried it both ways, still no luck, thanks.

(to Cgiorgio) Yes, we want to catch a moving part, but only a single
frame at a time. The setup is for photographing expander blades
through glass portholes, one porthole for the camera, the other for
the flash. The expander is a large single stage turbine that recovers
energy by breaking down process gas pressure. It runs at ~ 6,000 rpms
and has 63 blades. So far we have been successful using the strobotac
at a multiple of running speed and also taking video clips but we
would like to (1) experiment with catching the blades by triggering a
single fire from the strobotac and (2) eventually phase the strobotac
using an expander prox. probe. We have negotiated a loaner delay box
to scroll through the blades when using phased strobe firing.
You have given me some very good suggestions here and I'm very
thankful, I may be dismantling the Wein hot shoe adapter and trying to
see what kind of circuitry can be rigged between the hot shoe contact
and the PC socket.